Shelling of UN school in Gaza serious "violation of international law"

The shelling of a UN school that doubles as a shelter for thousands of displaced persons represents a serious violation of international law.

That's according to the Commissioner General of the UN relief and development agency for Palestinians, UNRWA.

On Wednesday night, the Jabalia Elementary Girls' School was hit by artillery fire, causing multiple deaths and injuries.

An official death toll has not yet been released.

UNRWA says that after gathering evidence at the site and analysing fragments, examining craters and other evidence, their initial assessment points to Israeli artillery.

Pierre Krähenbühl is the UNRWA Commissioner-General.

“We had repeatedly informed the Israeli Defense Forces about this particular school. We had notified it because it was important to protect it. And also because the people who were in this school where there because they had received instructions from the Israeli Defence Forces to leave the areas where they lived in and therefore they were sheltered in that premises, hoping and expecting there to be safe and protected. And the fact that they weren’t is unacceptable. And in the strongest possible terms I issue today a condemnation of the Israeli shelling of the school as representing a serious violation of international law.”

It's the sixth time that a UN emergency shelter was struck.

Since the beginning of hostilities, UNRWA has lost seven staff members.